Mother Teresa and conscience formation

During election season, we hear a great deal about “following our consciences” and the need for conscience formation. The U.S. bishops offer their guide to faithful citizenship so that the principles of Catholic social teaching might inform our election day decisions, and a number of organizations similarly put out a range of voting guides.

Reading, a social good

A recent study reported in The New York Times (Aug. 3) determined that people who read books live an average of almost two years longer than nonreaders. Indeed, the lives of readers are likely to be not only longer but deeper.